How does high-speed rail affect land value? Evidence from China

•We estimate the effects of high-speed rail on the land market in China.•High-speed rail has significant and heterogeneous effects on land prices.•The impacts are larger during the construction period and for the commercial land.•Cities with higher population densities and higher degree of division have larger affects. High-speed rail (HSR) and land market has become a hot issue, however, the effects and impact mechanisms of HSR have been little studied. Our study examines the impacts of HSR on the land price, based on China’s land transaction data. We estimate the effect of HSR employing a difference-in-difference approach. We find that HSR has positive effects on land prices. The impacts are larger during the construction period, on high service frequency routes and for the commercial land sector. In addition, the impacts are larger in cities with higher population densities, more distance-shortening, higher degree of division and lower hierarchy. Our results suggest that HSR can have distributive effects on land markets among different-sized cities after its construction and operation. The integrated and inclusive land development policy should be implemented to internalize the externality of HSR on land market.